LaserJet M140w on WiFi stopped being seen

[nclmar]

Hello.

I bought a LaserJet M140w printer/scanner for my home office 1.5 months ago.

The printer, the WiFi router and all devices mentioned are all very close to each other in the same room. All devices are connected to the same WiFi network.

Initial set-up

Initial set-up went well. I connected the printer to my 2.4GHz network using the HP Smart app on my Android phone.

Then the printer was seen correctly on both operating systems on my computer: Ubuntu 25.04 and Windows 10. For a couple of weeks, I was able to print and scan quite a few documents, from both OSes, without any issue.

The issue

Then I didn’t use the printer for a couple more weeks. When I tried again, printing or scanning, it didn’t work. Neither from Ubuntu, neither from Windows. On both systems, the printer was still listed but marked as offline/unavailable. But the WiFi button on the printer was lit in blue as it should.

What I tried

I did all of those several times at different moments:

• Restarting the printer, several times.
  
  
• Restarting the computer, both OSes, several times.
  
  
• Removing the printer from the Printers settings on both OSes, then adding it again. On both OSes, the printer was no longer appearing, so I wasn’t able to re-add it.
  
  
• Re-adding the printer from the HP app (no longer HP Smart) from my Android phone. Whether from “Set up a new printer” or “Choose an available printer”, or by serial number, the printer didn’t show up .
  
  
• Putting the printer into WiFi set-up mode and retrying, that didn’t do anything.
  
  
• Accessing my router’s admin interface to see if the printer was correctly connected. It was, with an IP and everything.
  
  
• Accessing the printer’s admin interface from the IP. Everything looked correct to me, and the WiFi was marked as functional.
  
  
• Printing a “wireless network test report” by “pressing and holding the wireless button for 10 seconds” (source), that didn’t print anything.
  
  
• Resetting the printer to factory settings from its admin interface.
  
  
• Going through the process again on the HP Android app. The printer is now seen, but fails during the process (notably error EBS00P0010).
  
  
• Installing the HP Smart app on Windows. The printer is not seen, even in WiFi set-up mode.
  
  
• Installing HP Easy Start for this model (HPEasyStart-13.6.5-LJM139-M142_UWL_54_3_5248_1_Webpack.exe) on Windows. Like on the HP Android app, the printer is seen, but fails during the process (“There was an unexpected error and we can’t complete printer setup now.”

All of those several times, in different orders. It’s now been a couple of weeks I’m trying to solve this, I’ve lost a lot of times and it seems I have exhausted all the possibilities I could think of or find.

I am not sure what to do anymore, can you help?

Thanks 🙂

[BeemerBiker]

Your printer is waking up from sleep and getting a different IP address from the Wi-Fi system it is connected to. It is online but your PC has an old address. It is like someone changing their phone number and not telling you. The quickest way to solve this is to print directly to the printer using Wi-Fi direct. Alternately go into the modem / router and have the DHCP server assign a fixed IP address for each printer. That way it never changes.

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The below is all know about your LaserJet: 140.  Hope I am not oversharing!

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Watch the reset video or perform the steps. After resetting, you generally have 2 hours to complete the setup. Decide if you want to connect the printer to the router or to print directly to the printer and bypass the router.

Many HP and other OEM printers have problems with the router when the router has two bands and both bands have the same name (SSID). Log into the modem and rename one of the bands. Alternately, contact your ISP and have them rename a band.

Or simply use Wi-Fi direct (but read note below about Instant Ink).

If English is not your native language or if you wish to get additional information not covered below, then use the HP and Microsoft support assistants. The latest HPSA supports 36 languages and can be downloaded here. Microsoft's AI assistant is in the latest Windows 10 and 11 releases and there are instructions here on how to enable the AI. Microsoft's AI assistant (Copilot) has a microphone button and supports natural language processing.

Do not call any phone numbers shown in any of the videos or revealed by a Bing or Google search. You may need to reset your printer.

Disconnecting the USB cable may still leave the printer in the wired or Wi-Fi mode. Connecting an ethernet cable may still leave the printer in Wi-Fi mode. The Wi-Fi reset is used to put Wi-Fi printers into setup mode. Some resets are simple and others require a video to understand. Factory resets cannot be revealed in this forum. To do a factory reset of your printer, you must contact HP.

Click here for world-wide contact info

Wi-Fi reset instructions and videos (if any) are shown below. Generally you have 2 hours to connect your printer after performing the Wi-Fi reset. Note that a reset video may show a slightly different model than yours. Do not call any phone numbers revealed in any video or site.

The steps below are Wi-Fi only and do not perform a factory reset.
Microsoft's Copilot may provide alternate solutions.

1. Turn on the printer.
2. Press the red X button and the Wi-Fi button
3. Keep them pressed for 5 seconds.

Wi-Fi connection

Ideally, your Wi-Fi printer should connect to the modem or router. If your network has multiple boosters / repeaters, it is possible the printer may connect randomly to any of the units. The router needs to provide the same IP address on every connection. This rarely happens with random connects. An alternate Wi-Fi connection is Wi-Fi direct. Your laptop or smartphone prints directly to the printer and does not go through the router. Note that if you signed up for instant ink or internet printing your printer must also be online through the router. Do not call any phone number revealed in any video or site.

This video shows how to connect to the router: 140
Wi-Fi Direct can be used to avoid configuring the router. Watch this: 140
Wi-Fi Direct is explained on page 20 of the User Manual, this Wi-Fi setup avoids configuring the router.
A simple connection to the router can be done by using the WPS pushbutton method. This is explained on page 8 in this User Manual.

Software

HP updates software periodically. Downloads shown below may be old. You should always visit the Software and Download page to look for new releases. You may need to select an operating system (OS) first. If windows 11 is missing then use 10. You can go as far back as Windows 7, 64bit to get missing drivers. After selecting the OS click the blue Open all button to view all downloads.

You can find all of the software here. You should select the OS and then look for the phrase "Open All" and click that. 140

Documents

All documents are available at the below HP site. The user and reference manuals show how to get status reports and analyze error indicators on printer that have no control panel.

All HP manuals are here: 140

Support Videos - Parts - Disassembly

HP has a YouTube site and there are a number of video in English and other languages. Typically unboxing, clearing paper jams, and cartridge problems. You may also find instructional disassembly videos from other users.

Printer problems could be cleared by one or more of these HP YouTube videos 140

Printer Reference

One or more printer reference is listed below. Typically your printer may be part of a series and use the same software and manual. The exact spec may be different.

Specifications for your system: 140

See page 5 to print network information

Let me know if a problem